Analysis

Research Plan

Research question:Are sexual minorities more socially accepted in countries with higher level of developement?

Unit of analysis:8 countries of different level of development

Hypothesis :
Sexual minorities are more likely to be accepted by society in countries with higher level of development.

We would like to adopt level of development as our independent variable and social acceptance as our
dependent variable. To identify the bivariate relationship between the two variables, we would like to
operationally define the concept of 'level of development' and 'social acceptance'. Three aspects would
be analysis in terms of 'level of development', including the legislation (Legalization of same-sex relationship
and sexual acts; legal protections of sexual minorities), the safeguards of civil rights and liberties, and religious
tolerance towards LGBT communities. We operationally defined the level of development by the HDI index ; while
the dependent variable, 'social accpetance' would be measured by civil rights, liberties and equal opportunities of
LGBT community.

Level of development - measured by HDI indexHuman development report 2011 (UNDP 2011)